Wednesday, March 5, 2025
/Ash Wednesday
Joel 2: 1-2, 12-17; Psalm 103; 2 Corinthians 5:20b- 6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
The Rev. James M.L. Grace
In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. AMEN.
John Kennedy Toole was drafted into the United States Army in 1961 at the age of 23. While serving in the army he advanced in rank, while simultaneously working on a novel. In 1963, Toole received a hardship discharge as his parents were struggling financially. He returned home, and continued working on his novel entitled A Confederacy of Dunces. Once complete, Toole sought out a publisher for his novel, and was turned down again and again. No company was interested in publishing John Kennedy Toole’s book.
Devasted and heart-broken with this sad news, John Kennedy Toole parked his car outside Biloxi, Mississippi. He ran a garden hose from the exhaust pipe through the window of his car, and he died on March 26, 1969. He was 31.
After Toole’s death, his mother discovered A Confederacy of Dunces, and she advocated for the book tirelessly until it was finally published eleven years later in 1980. A Confederacy of Dunces, once published, achieved significant success, selling upwards of 1.5 million copies.
Toole’s novel went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1981, cementing A Confederacy of Dunces as a literary classic. Think about that. What changed between 1969 and 1980? Nothing. The book was the same in 1969 as it was in 1980. From this tragic example we can see how arbitrary breaks are in life. A Confederacy of Dunces is a classic, but the timing of its recognition is tragic.
Here we are on Ash Wednesday, a time where the arbitrariness of human existence is seemingly so obvious to us. Here we are today acknowledging our mortality, the fleeting passage of time, and the reality that nothing is permanent.
At St. Andrew’s we are in a time of great transition. We have staff members who are leaving, we have new staff members joining us, we are going to begin our construction in just a few short weeks. So much is changing here. As it should. As it needs to.
I have spoken with parishioners who are a bit rattled and unsettled from the email I sent out yesterday, who lament that all this change is going on. And I understand that. I do not like change that much, either.
But I have all faith that God is fully present in it. One of my favorite acronyms for the word “God” is this: Grow (G) Or (O) Die (D). G.O.D. Grow Or Die. Those are our options. I choose to grow, because that is where God is.
The Apostle Paul writes in our reading from 2 Corinthians today “now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation!” Meaning that today is a great day to do great things. Today is a great day to grow, to let ourselves be uncomfortable, perplexed, and to trust God with our anxiety and our fear because those are the markers (perplexed, anxious, afraid) that we are in fact growing, and not calcifying.
Now is the acceptable time. John Kennedy Toole’s story did not end in Biloxi, Mississippi on March 26, 1969. It did not end that day because his mother did not recoil in grief, anger, and resentment. Instead she chose growth by advocating for her son’ work. That was the acceptable time. That was the day of salvation.
With all the chaos and distraction in the world – what will you choose – stagnation or change. God is in change – always. AMEN.